BRIEF History up to April 2006

There isn't a lot you need to know about my undergrad or after in order to understand my current situation as a new teacher, but I thought I'd outline the basics; the things I feel are important to remember.

1) I went to York University in Toronto, Ontario. I graduated in 2004 and received my Specialized Honours Bachelor of Fine Arts with a major in Music. I studied both instrumental and vocal, but focused more on jazz vocal in the second half of my schooling at York.

2) I was paying my way through university on my own with the aid of scholarships and bursaries, but they didn't last long. As a result, I started working full time very early on in university. I worked 40 hours a week at a telecommunications company, went to school full time, and taught private vocal lessons part time. I was also pretty involved in my church.

3) During the last semester of school I commuted to Toronto from Hamilton, where I currently live. I moved for a boy. That boy will become very important as the blog progresses.

4) Mostly because of #2, and my lack of effort, I graduated with less than stellar grades. I fell just short of the requirements to get into most teacher's colleges. I had pretty much given up hope of ever being a teacher.

5) I had planned on taking off one year, then trying to upgrade some courses so I had the marks to get into a teachers college in Ontario. My plan was thwarted when the boy proposed.

6) Nov 5, 2005 I married Rich, my husband, the most fabulous man in the world. He encouraged me to apply for teachers college even though I didn't think I would get in. We couriered my applications as we were leaving on our honeymoon.

7) April 3, 2006 I found out that I had been declined from my second and third choice schools. I figured that was it, no way was I getting into my first choice, the University of Toronto. April 5, 2006 Rich called to say he thought I got into U of T. I was ecstatic. The rest as they say, is history.